Fletcher News
New York Career Trip
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 This year’s Career Services trip to New York City attracted its
largest group of students yet. Around 160 Fletcher students headed to
the Big Apple over the Veteran’s Day long weekend – a huge increase over
the 110 it has attracted over the past few years.The annual trip, organized by Fletcher’s Office of Career Services (OCS), provides an opportunity for Fletcher students to investigate their fields of interest, network with professional in these areas and Fletcher alums in New York City. OCS Director, Susan Ingleby, and Associate Director, Tamara Golden, were thrilled with this year’s trip’s success. “I have been attending panels for six years and I find it phenomenal to see the inspiration, openness and candid suggestions and advice that I see from panelists – alums and non-alums alike – on the Fletcher career trips,” Ms Golden said. “This year was no different,” she added. Since the trip’s inception in the 1970s it has evolved to meet the changing needs and interests of students. This year’s program spanned two days and consisted of around 70 panelists, many of them Fletcher alums, and 18 sessions which involved panel discussions, on-site visits and small group informational interviews. “It’s really an informational trip, more than a career fair,” said Director of the Office of Career Services, Susan Ingleby. “Because so many students come to Fletcher wanting to change careers, and many of them have only the barest knowledge of a field in which they’re interested, the purpose of the career trip for them is to provide a fast overview of the field and to enable them to develop contacts,” Dr Ingleby said. Panels were varied and composed of experts in the field, many of them Fletcher alums. Topics ranged from government, non-government, non-profit to consulting, banking and finance. Following the panel presentations, students were able to mingle with the panelists and ask questions relating to their fields of interest. “The trip was a great help in understanding how the organizations we learned about function, interact with other organizations, and, most importantly, hire people,” said Marti Flacks, a first year MALD student pursing a joint degree with Columbia Law School. “The panelists provided insider information about various hiring tracks, points of contacts, and tips for getting inside an organization. Trying to acquire this information informally or individually would have been difficult, if not impossible. “New York was a great location for the trip simply because so many organizations are based there and some many alumni live there. The number of panels and information sessions that can be squeezed into such a short period of time is maximized by being in such a perfect location,” Ms Flacks said. MALD ’04 candidate Bhuvana Anand found the UNDP and the UN panels the most beneficial. “I met some alums working at the UN and made useful contacts with them,” Ms Anand said. “In terms of finding out how the alums actually got their jobs, the career trip provided useful tips,” she added. In addition to the formal sessions organized by OCS, some students took advantage of being in New York City to arrange their own informational or job interviews with prospective employers with a view to gaining information for future internships and jobs. OCS sees the trip as serving several purposes. Not only does it provide an invaluable opportunity to students in helping them plan for their future careers, but it helps market the school and its students to potential employers – including the many non-alums who participate on the panels. “The best marketing tool is a Fletcher student who has a good internship experience and who demonstrates to an organization the value they bring,” Dr Ingleby said. One of the relatively new initiatives to enable more students to participate in the trip was alumni hosting of students who otherwise would not be able to attend. A reception with New York Fletcher alumni, held on the evening between the two informational session days, provided a valuable opportunity for students to network with alums. OCS will examine feedback from the trip to help it tailor future trips to students’ needs. “We want to be very responsive to what students want,” Dr Ingleby said. The next career trip will be to Washington DC in February 2003. |